BICYCLE DREAMS, AWARD-WINNING DOCUMENTARY FILM ABOUT RACE ACROSS AMERICA, COMING TO BLOOMINGTON JULY 31
Bicycle Dreams, the award-winning feature-length documentary about Race Across America (RAAM), will premiere in Bloomington as part of the film’s ongoing nationwide tour on Sunday, July 31 at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater at 7 p.m. The film is being presented by Scholars Inn Bakehouse Team Tortuga of Bloomington.
Race Across America is considered by many to be the most challenging sporting event in the world. The 3,000-mile coast-to-coast race, in its 30th year, was held last month and passed through Bloomington on its way to the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland.
The film, which has won numerous awards at film festivals all over the world, “is an up-close look at what RAAM riders go through,” says Stephen Auerbach, the director and producer of Bicycle Dreams. “They deal with searing desert heat, agonizing mountain climbs, and endless stretches of open road. And they do it all while battling extreme exhaustion and sleep deprivation. It’s a great subject for a film.”
“Bicycle Dreams is a spectacular and heartfelt film that offers a riveting portrait of extreme courage in the face of inhuman obstacles,” writes TheLoveOfMovies.com. “It is an artistic triumph that renewed my belief in the power of desire and the strength of the human will.”
“We are very excited to be able to bring Bicycle Dreams to so many locations along the route that have never had access to the film before,” says Auerbach. “Viewers will be overwhelmed by the amount of pain and suffering these riders go through. Hopefully, many of them were able to see it all first-hand when the racers come through Bloomington last month.”
To capture the mammoth scope of the race, Auerbach worked around the clock with a complement of 18 cameras. Embedded camera operators traveled inside the racers’ support crew vehicles, gaining unprecedented access to the cyclists and their teams. Their footage captured emotional and physical breakdowns, late-night strategy sessions, and great moments of personal triumph, all in intimate detail. Auerbach then took on the enormous task of editing hundreds of hours of material and forming it into a powerful and inspiring look inside the most difficult race on the planet.
Bicycle Dreams has won major awards at the Fallbrook and Breckenridge film festivals, as well as the Yosemite, Grand Rapids, Red Rock and All Sports LA film festivals, among many others.
Most recently the film added the Best Foreign Film trophy from the Krasnogorski International Festival of Sports Films in Moscow and was also invited to be included in the 2011 World Cinema Showcase in New Zealand as well as the Mountain Film Festival in Istanbul, Turkey. And before that it made its Australian debut at the Big Pond Film Festival in Adelaide.
Critical acclaim for the film continues to pour in from all sources.
“An astonishing documentary,” declares Pez Cycling. “This film is a ride of many stark contrasts; when it ended I felt both shattered and triumphant. I realized I was experiencing its genius. A central theme of Bicycle Dreams is the profoundly inspiring strength of the human in facing monumental challenge and tragedy. Bicycle Dreams is a race of truth.”
“This film isn’t for those who want to shy away from the tragic side of the human experience, unwilling to risk the cracking of their shell of denial, not willing to risk their coping mechanism,” writes Cycling-Review.com. “Bicycle Dreams captures the human condition like few other films. Bicycle Dreams moves us to break through the barrier of the fear of death. I have seldom found a film that captures this ‘life drama’ as powerfully as does Bicycle Dreams.”
Adds Podium Café, “Bicycle Dreams is the ultimate inner journey. If you thought the life of a cyclist was an internal struggle, wait until you see what Auerbach unearths in this film. Bicycle Dreams is an unprecedented exploration of the subject of the suffering on the bike.”
About.com writes, “As we fall deeper and deeper into Bicycle Dreams, what we witness grows more terrifying, yet more compelling. Auerbach’s masterful direction exposes the raw lessons that drive people to push beyond the limits of human endurance. Revealing what lies at the heart of every impossible human endeavor is what Bicycle Dreams is all about.”
And finally, Bicycle Touring Pro comments, “If you’ve ever dreamed of challenging yourself to a place far beyond what you previously thought was possible, Bicycle Dreams is a film you must see. It’s beautiful, thought provoking, exciting, emotional and scary. The experience of watching this film will leave you with a new perspective on life that will remain with you for a very long time to come.”
Bicycle Dreams also has been named one of the top 10 adventure films of all time by both The Matador Network and Playground Magazine, calling it the best bicycle film since 1979’s “Breaking Away.”
Following the film there will be a question-and-answer session with several local veteran RAAM racers.
Tickets will be $10 in advance and $15 at the door. To purchase advance tickets, contact the theater’s box office at 323-3020 or order online at www.buskirkchumley.org. For more information on the film, go to www.bicycledreamsmovie.com or visit us on Facebook. Watch a trailer.
Media contact: Garry Harrington 603-209-5010 bicycledreamsmovie@hotmail.com